Skipper Darius Boyd's return from injury can not come soon enough for Brisbane after Matt Gillett admitted their reshuffled line-up was partly to blame for their disappointing NRL finals defensive display.
The Broncos are sweating on Boyd (hamstring) ahead of Friday night's knockout semi-final against Penrith after feeling the fullback's absence in last week's 24-22 opening finals loss to Sydney Roosters.
Gillett admitted they had to build trust in their defensive structure without Boyd if their inspirational No.1 again failed to prove his fitness for their Suncorp Stadium clash.
Gillett said there were issues gelling defensively alongside stand-in halfback Benji Marshall but expected them to be ironed out for the Panthers clash.
"We had the line right and there was probably an issue with a little bit of trust," he said.
"On my side with Benji there, we haven't played a lot of footy together and we haven't defended like that for a while so it's just trusting our process.
"It's not just the individual trust but the structure that we defend with.
"It's a process that we worked on through all pre-season and into the season so it's just a matter of trusting that and going out there and doing it."
If Boyd is sidelined again it remains to be seen if coach Wayne Bennett retains the same backline against the Panthers.
Bennett is reportedly considering yet another reshuffle in Boyd's absence after No.7 Marshall's quiet performance in their loss to the Roosters.
Jordan Kahu may switch to fullback with fill-in No.1 Kodi Nikorima moving back to halfback and Marshall to the bench.
Bennett started David Mead at fullback against the Roosters before replacing him with Nikorima after 20 minutes.
Mead only got told he was starting on game day.
Mead said Bennett had not indicated whether they would use the same tactic against Penrith if Boyd was again sidelined.
"I'm not too sure with Darbs (Boyd)," Mead said of the skipper's availability.
"Obviously he's training pretty hard and doing as much as he can to get back this week.
"After the game (Bennett) said he was happy with the way I ran out there and that was the only chat we had about football after the game."
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